Tokyo Valentino sign goes up at vacant East Cobb store

A Tokyo Valentino sign has gone up over the doors of what had been a Mattress Firm store at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road in East Cobb.

But there’s nothing in public documents that indicates a change of business from what had been applied for and is listed in Cobb County new business filings and state business formation documents as a clothing store.

East Cobb News first reported on May 25 that Michael S. Morrison, owner of the Atlanta-based Tokyo Valentino adult store chain, was named in Georgia Secretary of State’s records as the organizer and authorizer of a new business at that address to be called 1290 Clothing Co., LLC.

That’s the same name of a general retail store that was granted a new business license by the Cobb Community Development Agency on March 13.

Initially Morrison denied he knew anything about 1290 Clothing Co., saying he had a Tokyo Valentino store in Marietta.

But he later said he wasn’t sure what was going to go in the Johnson Ferry space, which would be his first venture in East Cobb.

East Cobb News has left a message with Morrison seeking comment about the Tokyo Valentino sign in East Cobb.

The five Tokyo Valentino stores and another store owned by Morrison called Stardust in Brookhaven sell a variety of adult books, DVDs, sex toys, adult lingerie and “smoking accessories.”

The Sandy Springs Tokyo Valentino store opened last December, also in a former Mattress Firm store. Initial filings indicated it would be for dancers’ clothes, but it opened as Tokyo Valentino. After a dispute with the city, he added non-adult items to meet code requirements.

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• Editor’s Note: Is East Cobb really so uptight about a sex shop?
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• Empty East Cobb retail building subject of sex shop concerns

A permit was also required for renovation from what had been the Mattress Firm in East Cobb. County building records showed an application was filed on May 14 by Pembroke Real Estate Partners, LLC, in Miami.

That’s the new owner of the building at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road. Pembroke’s principal is Frank Koretsky, a Miami-based entrepreneur who has holdings in adult lingerie and sex toy businesses.

According to Cobb tax records and previously reported by East Cobb News, Pembroke purchased the 0.53 acres and building at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road on Feb. 4 for $1.5 million.

Cobb building permit records show an inspection was completed on May 29 at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road, and that a certificate of occupancy was issued last Thursday, June 11.

There’s no mention in those records of a business named Tokyo Valentino, only 1290 Clothing Co.

There’s also no indication of a name change with the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, where business incorporation papers are filed.

Businesses that have previously received licenses in Cobb County and want to change their names can do so for a $10 fee.

As of Friday, the last day new business licenses and business name changes were publicly listed, there was nothing to indicate a change at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road.

Commissioner Bob Ott has said that because of a general commercial zoning classification that goes back to the 1970s, there’s nothing the county can do about an adult store moving in at that location—as long as there are no code violations.

Ott told East Cobb News Tuesday evening that’s still the case, but that “I have staff looking into what options the county may have moving forward.”

Nearby citizens have spoken out at a commissioners’ meeting and organized an online petition against an adult store in East Cobb.

One of those citizens, Lisa Sims, said she had  seen the Tokyo Valentino sign and wasn’t surprised but was “very disappointed.”

Morrison has battled local governments for years over his stores, going back to the late 1990s, especially his original store on Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta.

Last year the City of Atlanta sought to shut down that store, which has video booths and private rooms. Morrison is legally challenging the city’s adult entertainment ordinance.

Last month, a DeKalb County judge ordered him jailed on contempt of court charges stemming from disputes with the City of Brookhaven over delinquent fees for the Stardust store.

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